Malaysia, a nation in Southeast Asia consists of 13 states and 3 federal territories with Kuala Lumpur as its capital. The Country is separated into two regions namely Peninsular and East Malaysia. It was initially called Malay where Malays occupy half of its population. From the 18th century onwards it was under the control of the British. Before its independence in Dec 1957, Peninsular Malaysia was joined with Malayan Union in 1946 which makes Malaya as Federation of Malaya in 1948. On 16 September 1963, Malaya turned into Malaysia after its link with Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo. Singapore comes out of the federation in 1965. The Country is home to multi-religion, where Malay is the major community while other is Chinese and Indians. Malay’s are referred to as indigenous people or aboriginals of Peninsular Malaysia. For every five years, the monarch of the state was elected from the ancestry rulers of nine Malay states.
Land
The total land area is 329,613 km2 . The two main regions of namely Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia are separated by the South China Sea, share its land and sea boundary with Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, and Brunei. The country extends from north to south for 740 km and East Malaysia on Borneo Island is a coastal region for 2607km. On the other hand, Malaysia is home to numerous islands. Banggi is the largest island and Mount Kinabalu is the tallest mountain in Malaysia & is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Population
From the population of 31.5 million in 2018, it has reached 32.6 million in 2019. According to the UN Data in 2019, the population density is 97.2 people per square kilometer. The life expectancy at birth of male was 73 years and female are 77.2 years. The sex ratio is 105.8 males per 100 females.
Religion
On its total population, Malay’s (bumiputera) are majority who are mostly Muslims. The official language spoken is Malay.
| Religion | Percentage |
| Islam | 61.3 % |
| Christianity | 9.2 % |
| Hinduism | 6.3 % |
| Buddhism | 19.8 % |
| Folk or Traditional religion | 1.3 % |
| Non-religious | 0.7 % |
| Other | 1.4 % |
Climate
The climatic condition of Peninsular and East Malaysia is different. The monsoon season starts from October to February. It has high humidity and moderate temperature due to the surrounding ocean.
Economy
- According to the World Bank Report, the GDP (nominal) of $358.58 billion in 2018.
- A newly industrialized market economy is the economy of Malaysia which is 3rd largest in Southeast Asia and 33rd in the world.
- With its rapid GDP, it became competitive in Australia, France, South Korea, and the Philippines. In Asia, it has the best economic records.
- Malaysia achieved a developed country status for high technology development over Transport, tourism, and Industry.
- Malaysia’s GDP expanded by 4.3 % in 2019. In 2018, the HDI value of 0.804 represents very high development in the human category.
Malaysia Country Code : MY
Malaysia Country Dialing Code: +60
